Al Di Meola

Al Di Meola is one of those guitarists who genuinely reset my sense of what the instrument could do. Joining Chick Corea's Return to Forever in his early twenties, fresh from Berklee, was a remarkable launch, and his solo work only deepened the legend. What I value is that his famous speed never feels empty; underneath the dazzling technique sits real melody and a deep love of Latin and world music. He helped define jazz fusion without ever sounding mechanical. Decades on, I still hear that blend of precision and passion as something few players have ever matched.

Name (English)

Al Di Meola

Name (Japanese)

アル・ディ・メオラ

Reading

ある・でぃ・めおら

Born

July 22, 1954 (age 72)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Cancer / Horse

Origin

Jersey City, New Jersey, United States

Occupation

guitarist / composer / jazz musician / jazz guitarist / recording artist

High school

Bergenfield High School

University

Berklee College of Music

• Official sitehttps://www.aldimeola.com/
• Xhttps://x.com/aldimeolamusic
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al%20Di%20Meola
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BB%E3%83%87%E3%82%A3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%A1%E3%82%AA%E3%83%A9
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q165634

Tags

• New Jersey
• guitarist
• composer
• jazz musician

Last updated

2026-06-20

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.